On-the-job Training for Emotional Competence

understood the organization’s culture

and context. Jerry’s boss agreed to

provide some support, but Jerry was

not able to identify others he thought

would be willing to help him in this

regard. Then it dawned on him: this

further confirmed that his social skills

were lacking. The good news for

Jerry was that as he practiced his

emotional competencies, his network

of support grew naturally.

As noted earlier, persistent work

demands and a fast-paced, results-

oriented business culture can easily

push a personal learning agenda out

of the picture. The challenge for

leaders is to re-create in their day-to-

day work lives the critical elements

of an off-site learning experience

that enables risk taking, encourage-

ment, and useful feedback. By doing

so leaders can establish a learning

support system—an essential ingre-

dient of staying focused on active

development.

Most important, experiencing suc-

cess and receiving positive reinforce-

ment from others provides the best

incentive for sustaining personal

growth and for modeling and facili-

tating this process for others.

STEPS TO TAKE

What steps can leaders take to

develop emotional competence? A

good starting point is to find out what

opportunities the organization offers,

such as off-site development pro-

grams, ongoing coaching, and peri-

odic feedback. Knowing what is

available enables leaders to seize

opportunities they may have previ-

ously overlooked.

Leaders also should become pur-

poseful about developing trusting

alliances with their bosses, peers, and

subordinates who can offer timely

encouragement and feedback. These

alliances often evolve into reciprocal

learning partnerships in which both

individuals give and receive encour-

agement and feedback.

Leaders may want to consider

whether the organization’s culture

encourages risk taking and learning.

If in the process of creating a per-

sonal learning infrastructure leaders

discover that it is difficult or awkward

to build such alliances at work, they

may have to broaden their pool of

learning partners to include outsiders.

Developing emotional competence

is inextricably tied to developing a

learning infrastructure. As leaders

create such an infrastructure, they

naturally increase their self-aware-

ness, find opportunities to practice

self-regulation and critical social

skills, and develop alliances that pro-

vide valid feedback and encourage-

ment. Periodic feedback and reassess-

ment enable leaders to determine

whether they are enhancing their

awareness of their own and others’

emotions and motivations, and the

extent to which they are improving in

the areas of self-management, empa-

thy, and targeted social skills.

As leaders continue to follow this

path, their learning agendas are

likely to change. Leaders may also

become models for others or take an

interest in how they can motivate

others to develop their own self-

awareness and other critical emo-

tional competencies. In their roles as

creators and stewards of organiza-

tional culture, leaders might ask how

they can create opportunities for

others to engage in personal learning

and development. Once leaders are

on the way to becoming emotionally

competent, they realize that this

question is too critical to leave

unanswered.

LIA •VOLUME 22, NUMBER 3 • JULY/AUGUST 2002

7

Coaching for Emotional Competence

Coaching is considered an essential

jump-start experience for develop-

ing emotional competence. But

what specific coaching practices

are used to facilitate leaders’ devel-

opment of emotional competence?

To answer this question, research

was conducted on four CCL pro-

grams—two of which involve class-

room-based instruction and two of

which involve one-on-one coaching

and assessment.

Information from twenty-five

major coaching engagements was

collected and analyzed, along with

the answers to end-of-program and

follow-up questions from classroom

programs during the past four years

and personal reflections from coach-

es and facilitators who were

engaged in helping leaders develop

emotional competencies.

Two of the programs emphasized

developing self-management and

social skills such as managing con-

flict, whereas the other two placed

more emphasis on deepening self-

awareness and the personal factors

that shape one’s ability to self-dis-

close and build trusting relationships.

All four of the programs used

assessment tools and feedback

processes to address the four

emotional competence clusters—

self-awareness, social awareness,

self-management, and relationship

management. Participants were asked

to reflect on the meaning and implica-

tions of 360-degree feedback and to

establish personal development goals.

Although the core learning

technologies varied across the four

programs, each program created

positive learning conditions includ-

ing anonymity, trust, valid and

focused feedback, and a safe envi-

ronment that allowed participants to

be open and vulnerable.

Perhaps the most important find-

ing was that even though follow-up is

essential for changing behaviors at

work, it did not happen consistently.

The programs served as catalysts for

self-awareness and motivation to

change, but planned follow-up—includ-

ing monitoring of personal goals,

ongoing coaching, encouragement,

and feedback—did not occur on a reg-

ular basis, squandering the learning

potential of everyday opportunities.